THERE were three distinct sessions of play on the opening day of the key Carib Beer Series match between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago at Guaracara Park yesterday.

From a Bajan perspective, the first was bad, the second was good and the third was bad.

As a result, Trinidad and Tobago eked out a slight advantage to close the day on 301 for seven after choosing to bat first on a hard, unresponsive pitch.

In the pre-lunch session, Barbados' attack was somewhat flat and openers Willam Perkins and Adrian Barath were comfortably able to add 75 in a session that was cut short by half-hour because of a stoppage for rain.

During the pre-tea session, Barbados instigated a fightback that was led by left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn who snared two of the four wickets that left the contest on even keel at the tea-time total of 158 for four.

Unimpressive

The final session was even more unimpressive for Barbados than the first despite the visitors collecting three wickets, including two in the final 20 minutes before stumps were drawn at 6 p.m.

Apart from the middle session, the bowling was all over the place. The consistent line was not adhered to and it was either wide of off-stump or wide of leg-stump.

It prompted Lester Casimir, who was working as radio commentator on Vibe CT 105.1 FM, to describe the bowling as "at best, very bad".

It might have been a harsh assessment, but the fact of the matter is that for most of the day, Barbados did not bowl like a team that was vying for a place in the Challenge final against new Cup champions Jamaica.

There might have been the excuse that they were unable to have a single practice session since arriving on Tuesday because of the late arrival of their luggage. The luggage problem also affected Dominican umpire Roger Laroque who was unable to take his place in the middle for the entire day.

Barbados' ground fielding was also of a shoddy standard and there were three missed catches.

Missed catch

Furthermore, Barbados sent down 21 no-balls, 15 of which came from fast bowler Fidel Edwards, whose effort with the ball and his easy missed catch in the field would not have helped his cause in pressing for a place in the West Indies team for the upcoming second Test against Sri Lanka.

Amidst the sloppy work, the stand-out with the ball was Benn, who wheeled away admirably for 22 successive overs after he was brought into the attack immediately after lunch.

Towards the end, however, when he came back for a second spell, Benn suffered from Richard Kelly's rampaging bat when he was hoisted for three leg-side sixes.

Kelly and Lendl Simmons helped Trinidad and Tobago's cause significantly with a sixth wicket stand of 114 at a time when the game was in the balance.

Out of character

Simmons, batting out of character at No. 4, made a fighting unbeaten 63 off 174 balls, stretching four-and-a-half-hours, while the left-handed Kelly banged 68 off 81 balls before he was prised out through a fine catch by Kevin Stoute at cover.

It was one of two quick wickets for Dwayne Smith who then had Rayad Emrit caught at second slip from a loose stroke, but Smith was seldom threatening in his 16 overs.

Captain Corey Collymore, returning to the team after a two-match break, appeared short of work. He managed the wicket of rival captain Daren Ganga who was lbw offering no stroke in the post-lunch period when the Barbados skipper seemed to be finding some rhythm, but later in the day, he was too much on the leg stump.

Collymore would have had a second wicket had Edwards not missed a straight-forward catch at mid-on before Kieron Pollard opened his account.

Big-hitting Pollard was also dropped on 14 at long-off by Jonathan Carter when the fielder seemed to be concerned about his close position to the ropes.

Pollard's chances weren't costly and Benn was rewarded with Pollard's wicket from a juggled catch to wicket-keeper Patrick Browne.

It was Benn who also broke the opening partnership of 89 when Barath edged a defensive prod.

SCOREBOARDS:

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 1st Innings

W. Perkins c Collymore b Edwards 41

A. Barath c wk Browne b Benn 39

*D. Ganga lbw b Collymore 12

L. Simmons not out 63

K. Pollard c wk Browne b Benn 22

+G. Mohammed b Stoute 19

R. Kelly c Stoute b Smith 68

R. Emrit c Benn b Smith 1

D. Mohammed not out 1

Extras: (b6, lb4, w4, nb21) 35

TOTAL: (7 wkts - 89 overs) 301

Fall of wickets: 1-88, 2-94, 3-115, 4-150, 5-182, 6-296, 7-300.

To bat: R. Rampaul, A. Jaggernauth.

Bowling: Collymore 17-6-33-1, Edwards 17-0-77-1 (w1, nb15), Smith 16-1-49-2 (w2, nb4), Stoute 8-2-33-1 (w1, nb2), Benn 26-5-86-2, Carter 5-2-13-0.

BARBADOS – D. Richards, J. Haynes, +P. Browne, K. Stoute, D. Smith, J. Carter, A. Holder, S. Brooks, S. Benn, F. Edwards, *C. Collymore.

Umpires: Peter Nero (Trinidad), Kemraj Bharasingha (Trinidad) N.B. Bharasingha stood in for Roger Laroque (Dominica).

Match referee: Clarence Shaffrali.

LEEWARDS 1st Innings

S. Jeffers c Reifer b Wallace 45

K. Powell c wkp McClean b Wallace 85

*R. Morton c Philips b Noel 59

S. Liburd run out 41

O. Peters b Wallace 0

T. Willett not out 2

+D. Thomas c Jackson b Hutchinson 66

G. Tonge c Jackson b Wallace 16

L. Baker run out Jackson 2

B. Defreitas not out 4

Extras: (b23, w1, nb8 32

TOTAL: (8 wkts, 91 overs) 402

Fall of wickets: 1-135, 2-140, 3-239, 4-240, 5-242, 6-354, 7-386, 8-388.

To bat: Anthony Martin.

Bowling: Noel 13-0-54-1, McClean 9-1-40-0, Emmanuel 5-2-26-0, Clarke 25-5-87-0, Hutchinson 7-1-63-1, Wallace 29-5-103-4, Jackson 3-0-6-0.

CCC – Shirley Clarke (captain), Simon Jackson, Nekoli Parris, Floyd Reifer, Craig Emmanuel, Chadwick Walton, Kevin McClean, Jamal Noel, Omar Philips, Gavin Wallace, Borris Hutchinson.

Toss: Leewards.

Umpires: Patrick Grazette, Kenneth Whittle.